Would you like to give up a beloved object or habit for 40 days? The answer is an easy “yes” for hundreds of the University’s Catholic students who gathered in the Gerlinger Lounge or at the St. Thomas More Newman Center on Wednesday during Ash Wednesday ceremonies.
The assemblages marked the beginning of Lent, a religious season of soul-searching and repentance for some Christians, including Catholics. Lent originated in the earliest days of the church as a preparatory time for Easter, when the faithful rededicated themselves and when converts were instructed in the faith and prepared for baptism. It usually lasts for
40 days, excluding Sundays.
Lent holds the tradition of sacrificing a
bad habit.
“I will give up fast food,” sophomore Robert Jones said. “Fast food is bad for health — I know that — but I just cannot cut it off from my life.
(I) hope I can give it up during Lent.”
Sophomore Pat Ferguson was still wondering what to give up when the Newman Center’s early-evening ceremony began.
“You know, people don’t have to give up things during Lent, (and) they can also take something,” he said. “I’m going to pick up something good this year.”
To Ferguson, religion is not an abstract concept, but a concrete part of his daily life.
“It’s all about how to help make people’s lives better, and make your life meaningful,” he said.
Three separate ceremonies marking the holy day were held on campus and at the Catholic church across from Hayward Field for the convenience of students.
The noontime ceremony in the Gerlinger Lounge is an annual event for the University Catholic community.
“We know some students will be busy with their class schedules, (so) this arrangement will make things a lot easier for them,” Father David Orique of the Newman Center said.
Junior Sarah Fieger had classes in the morning and afternoon on Wednesday and found the mid-day ceremony useful.
“It’s kind of cool we can have a ceremony on the campus,” she said. “It takes care of both our study and religious belief.”
During the ceremony, participants prayed, worshiped and shared Communion, a sacred ritual. Students and community members participating in the rite ate bread, which represents the body of Christ; drank of the cup, consuming a small sip of wine, which represents the blood of Christ; and finally received a mark of an ash cross on their foreheads, an action specific to the
service marking the beginning of Lent.
“We say the bread and the wine will become the body of Jesus. It’s an ancient rite (that) goes back to early Christians that has Jewish roots,” Orique said. “So we share the sacred meal and use that to remember the life and the death and the resurrection of Jesus.”
As for the ash cross, Orique said in the Bible, a mark on the forehead is a symbol of a person’s ownership. Having his or her forehead marked with the sign of a cross symbolizes that the person belongs to Jesus Christ.
The University’s Catholic community includes about 1,000 members, half of them students.
As a University community-based church, the Newman Center has lots of exchanges with other Catholic churches in Oregon, as well as volunteer trips to Mexico, Orique said. In June, a group of volunteers from the church will travel to Mexico to promote cultural exchange and help the poor.
“We just want to make sure students will get both religious and social lives in our community,” he said.

Aibing Guo is a freelance reporter for the Daily Emerald